Automatic fire-extinguisher.



N0. 808,101. PATENTED DEC. 26, 1905. H. W. MARTIN. AUTOMATIC FIRE EXTINGUISHER APPLICATION FILED NOV. 12, 1903.

Attorney M'fnessa. n2 Mmm.

" TITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AUTQMATIO FIRE-EXTINGUISHER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 26, 1905.

Application filed November 12, 1903. Serial No. 180,824.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMAN W. MARTIN, of Ilion, in the county of Herkimer, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Automatic F ire-Ex tinguishers, of which the following, taken in connectio L1 with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in automatic fire-extinguishers in which the discharge-opening of the water-conduit is closed by suitable means held in place by a material which is fusible under a comparatively low degree of temperature.

I am aware that many patents have been issued upon automatic sprinklers and fire-extinguishers a large majority of which necessitate the use of valves and movable detents or holding devices which are held in place by material fusible under a low degree of tem perature, these movable detents and the fusible lock being external to the sprinkler-fitting for the purpose of exposing the fusible material to any heat which may envelop the same, while in many other patents an interior valve is held in place by a fusible material which comes in direct contact with the water in the pipe or sprinklerfitting. The construction of the former devices is necessarily complicated, and therefore expensive and not always reliable, while those of the latter con struction almost always fail to operatefor the reason that the water coming in contact with the fusible material prevents the fusing of said material even under ahighdegree of heat, which is readily apparent upon reference to the ordinary experiment of placing a pan with soft solder on the bottom upon a highly-heated surface and covering the soldered portion with water or other liquid, in which case as long as the liquid covers the soldered ortion the solder remains intact and is only sed in the absence of the liquid.

The object of my present invention is to provide an automatic sprinkler which may be readily attached without special fitting to an ordinary T or similar pipe fitting of the water-distributing system and to avoid the use of valves and external holding-detents by simply plugging the discharge-opening in the T or other fitting with a suitable material which is held in place by a fusible material separated from contact with the water in the pipe by the plugging material, so that when the fusible material melts the plugging material is readily blown out through the .dis-

charge-opening by the water-pressure within the pipe.

Other objects and purposes will appear in the subse uent description.

In the drawings, Figure-1 is an end elevation of a pipe-T and my improved sprinkler attached thereto; Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2 2, Fig. 1, Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are perspective views of the detached parts seen in Figs. 1. and 2, showing, respectively, the heat-conducting nipple, bushing, the inner shell for the separating material, the T or pipe fitting, and the spraying attachment. Fig. 8 is a sectional View similar to Fig. 2, except thatthe parts are inverted, and showing a slightly-modified form of support for the deflector-plate. Fig. 9 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 2, except that the bushing which enters the T is omitted and the remaining parts are mounted directly in the discharge-opening of the T. Fig. 10 is a similar sectional View of a still further modified form of sprinkler.

Similar reference characters indicate-corresponding parts in all the views.

In carrymg out the objects above stated I employ an ordinary pipe-T 1, which is con nected in the usual manner in the water-distributing system and is provided with the usual central branch opening 2, in which is screwed a threaded bushing 3. This bushing is preferably threaded externally and receives a body of fusible material 4, which melts at a low temperature and in which is embedded one end of a hollow heat-conducting nipple or stopper 5, the other end extending outwardly through the open end of the bushing, so that the heated air which may be produced by a fire impinges against the outer surface and enters the nipple, and thereby melts the fusible body 4, thus releasing the nipple. In order to protect this fusible body from contact with the water in the T or pipe-fitting 1, a plug 6, of parafiin or equivalent material, is mclosed in a suitable shell 7 and inserted into the inner end of the bushing and is held in placeby portions of the fusible body 4, which usually consists of sealing-wax or similar material. This plug 6 and its confining-ring 7 fit loosely within the inner end of the bushing 3 between the water-passage and flexible material 4, the ring 7 substantially filling the opening in the bushing, and its outer end is slightly embedded in the fusible body 4 while soft, so that the latter serves to hold the plug 6 and its confining-ring 7 in place. It is now apparent that in case of fire the heated air comes in contact with and passing within the nipple 5 operates to speedilymelt the body 4 under a comparativelylow temperature, owing to the fact that the fusible body is separated from contact with the water by the waterproof or impervious plug 6, and as soon as this material is sufficiently fused its function to hold the nipple 5 and plug 6 in place is destroyed, and therefore the water-pressure upon the inside of the fitting 1 readily forces the plug 6 and its confining-ring 7 and also the nipple 5 out of the bushing, and the water is therefore free to discharge upon or in proximity to the fire. In order to distribute or deflect this water discharge, I support a distributingplate 8 across the discharge-opening of the pipe-fitting a slight distance from said opening, which plate is preferably concavo-convex in cross-section with its concave face toward the discharge-opening, so that as the water impinges against the concave face it is deflected laterally and downwardly to cover as broad an area as possible within which the fire may be located. This deflector-plate is mounted upon an upwardly-extending arm 9, having its lower end secured to a ring 10, which is clamped upon the boss or branch of the T 1 by suitable clamping-screws 11.

The deflector-plate 8, arm 9, and ring 10 are preferably formed from a single piece of sheet metal, as best seen in Fig. 7 the ring 10 being provided with suitable ears 12, which, together with the lower end of the arm 9, are formed with threaded apertures 13 for receiving the clamping-screws 11, and in assembling the deflectorplate it is simply necessary to place the ring over and upon the boss or branch of the T.and then adjust the screws 11 to hold it in place, as seen in F 1.

In Fig. 8 I have shown the T 1 as inverted and as provided with parts 4, 5, 6, and 7, arranged in substantially the same manner as seen in Fig. 2 but the deflector-plate 8, as seen in this instance, is shown as mounted upon the lower end of a U-shaped hanger-bar 9, having its upper ends suitably secured to the bushing 3.

In Fig. 9 I have shown a T 1 as provided with a branch discharge-opening 2, in which is inserted a heat-conducting nipple 5 and a plug 6, which is confined in the ring 7, all of said parts being similar to those seen in Fig. 2, the nipple 5 and plug 6 being held in place by a fusible body 4, of sealing-wax or equivalent material, the only difl'erence between this construction and that seen in Fig. 2 being that the bushing 3 is dispensed with and the parts 4, 5, 6, and 7 are secured directly to the discharge-opening 2.

In Fig. 10 is shown a water-pipe 1, having :a threaded discharge-opening 2, in which is screwed a bushing 3, the latter recelvlng one end of a hollow heat-conducting nipple 5,

which is held in place by a surrounding body of fusible material 4, such as sealing-wax or equivalent substance. The inner end of this nipple 5 and fusible body 4 is separated from the water-channel by a body of parafiin orsimilar material 6, which enters the inner end of the bushing 3 and is held in place by a confining-ring 7. In this instance a deflector-plate 14 is suspended from the lower end of the nipple 5 by suitable arms 15, and

instead of the nipple being forced entirely out of the bushing when the fusible material 4 is melted it is only expelled a limited distance and is prevented from further displacement by shoulders 16 upon the inner end of the nipple 5, which engage similar shoulders on the outer end of thebushing. The body 6 being of paraffin or similar oily substance is easily dissolved by the heat and is blown out through the nipple by the water-pressure within the pipe 1.

It is apparent from the foregoing description that the impervious filling in the inner end of the discharge-opening in the bushing 3 prevents contact of the water in the main passage of the pipe with the fusible filling 4, which may be of sealing-wax or other material fusible at a low temperature, so that only a slight degree of heat above normal temperature of the air is required to melt the material 4, thereby freeing the nipple 5 and fusible plug 6. I have mentioned this plug as fusible for the reason that its composition is usually fatty or resinous matter which is inserted in a congealed condition, so that it readily melts by contact with the heated metal case underalow temperature. In fact, this fatty or resinous filling might be' used with success under some conditionsas, for instance, when the water-pressure was very lightin which case the other fusible material 4 and nipple 5 might be dispensed with.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an automatic fire-extinguisher, a water-pipe having a lateral opening, a hollow bushing inserted in said opening and provided with a passage leading to. atmosphere, a hollow heat-conducting nipple having one end inserted in the bushing and, its other end protruding therefrom, a fusible material securing the nipple to the bushing, and a body of paraffin or equivalent material in the inner end of the bushing between the nipple and the interior of the water-containing pipe and adapted to be blown out through the lateral passage by the water when the fusible material is melted.

2. In an automatic fire-extinguisher, a water-pipe having a lateral opening, a hollow bushing inserted in said opening and provided with a passage leading to atmosphere, a hollow heat-conducting nipple having one end inserted in the bushing and its other end IIO protruding therefrom, a fusible material securing the nipple to the bushing, a shell or ring at the inner end of the lateral passa e, a body of paraffin or equivalent materia inclosed by said shell or ring and adapted to be blown out through said passage by the water when the fusible material is melted.

3. In an automatic fire-extinguisher, a wa ter-pipe having a lateral opening, a hollow bushing inserted in said opening and provided with a passage leading to atmosphere, a stopper in the outer end of the bushing, a fusible detent securing the stopper to the bushing, a body of paraffin or equivalent material in the inner end of the bushing for separating the stopper from the water in the pipe and adapted to be blown out through said passage by the water when the fusible detent is destroyed.

4. In an automatic fire-extinguisher, the combination of a water-pipe having a lateral water-passage opening to atmosphere, a hollow nipple having one end in said passage and its other end projecting outwardly therefrom, a fusible detent securing said nipple in the passage, and a body of paraffin or equivalent material in said passage between the inner end of the nipple and interior of the water-pipe.

5. In an automatic fire-extinguisher, the combination of a tubular bushing, a body of paraffin or equivalent material in one end of the bushing, a retaining-ring for said body, a stopper in the other end of the bushing and a fusible detent securing said stopper to the bushing.

6. As an article of manufacture, a fire-extinguisher comprising a hollow tubular bushing, a hollow nipple in the outer end of the bushing and protruding therefrom, a fusible 4o detent securing the nipple to the bushing, and a body of paraflin or e uivalent material 1n the inner end of the bus 'ng.

7. As an article of manufacture, a fire-extinguisher comprising a hollow tubular bushing, a hollow nipple in the other end of the bushing and protruding therefrom, a fusible detent securing the nipple to the bushing, and a body of paraffin or equivalent material in the inner end of the bushing, and a retainingring for said body.

8. As an article of manufacture, a fire-extinguisher comprising a hollow tubular bushing, a hollow nipple in the outer end of the bushing and protruding therefrom, a fusible detent securing the nipple to the bushing, a water-distributing plate across the outer end of the nipple, means to hold said plate in place, and a body of paraffin or equivalent material at the inner end of the nipple and within said bushing.

9. In an automatic fire-extinguisher, the combination of a bushing having a central passage therethrough, a body of paraffin or equivalent material in the inner end of said passage, a retaining-ring for said body, a hollow nipple in the outer end of the passage and a fusible detent holding said nipple in the passage, said parts being combined and united to form a unitary article of manufacture for the purpose described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 5th day of November, 1903.

HERMAN W. MARTIN.

Witnesses:

H. E. CnAsn, MILDRED M. Now. 

